Almost all Yellow Sunday Flower walk

It was so yellow that we longed to see another colour! But first, in our own garden, I couldn't go past this Clivia without snapping it! All over, they seem to be beautiful this year!

Then yesterday at Compagnes Drift Mill, where we celebrated Heritage Day, this Gazania stopped me in my tracks. In fact later in the day there was a second one growing through it, the bud must have been behind it!

As we were enjoying lunch outside, listening to the machinery inside creaking away, a Lesser Double-collared Sunbird was having lunch on an aloe too.

The Coral tree there is shy to set flowers, but they are impressive when they do!

This morning on the farm, Pippa spotted an Aristea africana open. I rushed out with the camera, knowing they're a mornings-only flower!

Another sign of spring, a Pin-tailed Whydah flirting with a couple of females in the garden.

Yes, the walk today was mostly yellow. I was wondering why some people travel long distances for Spring Flowers when they're right here!

Up close, vying for a space in the sun!

It seemed the only other colour was pink in several shades, Sheep Sorrel here:

.... and the Pelargoniums are still in flower:

We found another example of the peppery-scented-leaves one, right next to the path too:

Also pink were these little pea types:

Flower detail:

.... these Teedias:

and our faithful Saltera sarcocolla!

A lot of our walk was in the recently deforested (and by chance also burnt) area where we were often watched by these Stone Chats:

A plant we've found has really established itself since the fire of nearly two years ago is the Trachyandra. It's not impressive, with tiny pinkish flowers, bootlace like leaves, but the bees go mad about it!

On what we think is Pseudoselago spuria the flowers are filling out:

This plant has us stumped! Will it ever flower to help us identify it?

The pathway past the old Railway cottages always comes up trumps. Now the Beetle Lilies are up, but not fully open yet, Baeometra uniflora:

These now join the Sparaxis bulbiflora:

Geissorhiza aspera:

Was this the only blue flower all day? No! The Lobelias were also out!

 ... and these orange Moraeas all in 50 metres!

:-) Andy

Follow-up Sunday Flower Walk and More!

Before we get to wild flowers, just a picture of the magnificent Clivias next to Jayne's house on Compagnesdrift:

Clivias at Compagnesdrift

On the way there, on Houw Hoek Pass I stopped for this pink Watsonia growing next to the road. It looks a bit pale and a month early for W. borbonica, could it be W. laccata?:

Watsonia laccata (?) on Houw Hoek Pass

In the horse paddock next door, possibly Moraea flaccida:

Moraea flaccida ?

On the track above the railway line, these Sundews, Drosera have pushed up buds:

Sundew Drosera with buds

The Wachendorfia paniculata are taking their time to come out. This flower was close to the base if the candelabra.

Wachendorfia paniculata flower

We looked for one of the 'new' plants from last week, and were delighted to find some flowers are open! Only one per stem at this stage, with the most delicate flowers with petals folding all the way back until they touch the stem!

Drimia or Caesia (?) flower

The multi-branched flower stem can be seen below growing out of the ground to the left of the bunch of leaves which are round on one side and flatter on the other. Now tuned in to them, we saw several more, but only in that patch, nowhere else on our walk!

Drimia or Caesia (?) plant

Drimia or Caesia (?) flower stem

Possibly a Drimia? Or a Caesia?

Drimia or Caesia (?) with petals curved right back to touch the stem

Most of the Teedias are in flower now:

Teedia in flower

We keep checking this single tall Erica which we have so far not been able to identify. It's growing well, but no sign of flowers yet!

Unknown Erica, waiting for flowers!

We searched out another of last week's 'new' plants, a pea-type from the flower, with tiny pink blooms. Pippa is inspecting the tiny flowers with a magnifying glass:

Pippa inspecting pea-type flower with magnifying glass

So did I!

Pea-type flower through magnifying glass

Actually it was easier taking a photo without! The very hairy leaves are clear below, and the other hairy clusters between the flowers seem to be flower buds. We found another plant about ten metres away and noted its position too.

Pea-type flower and hairy leaves and buds

Not far away we found some examples of this which may be a Gladiolus debelis, the wider three rear petals and the smaller three inside. Only three, two wide and one narrow, have the red spear-heads!

Gladiolus debelis ? flower detail

Gladiolus debelis ? flower detail

On another plant a short distance away, the middle arrow-head is not as pronounced.

A pair of Gladiolus debelis ? with different markings

The flower stalks have leaves along their length, and the flowers at the tips, these were about 40cm tall. Pippa is taking notes and making sketches while I take photos!

Gladiolus debelis ? plant detail

I looked around and thought I'd spotted another, but it was different! Only about 20cm tall:

Unknown bulbous plant

Also with three-plus-three petals, but a very different flower otherwise:

Unknown bulbous plant flower

The back of the petals have a central stripe and a reddish tinge. It also has us guessing, Strumeria? Hesperantha? Spiloxene? Ixia? The petals are too narrow for a Cyanella.

Unknown bulbous plant, rear of flower

Unknown bulbous plant, detail of stamens

We were close to the hollows in the rock where we found the Ladybirds. As expected, they'd all flown! There are still flowers on the Tar Pea Bolusafra bitumenosa:

Tar Pea Bolusafra bitumenosa

Some tiny red flowers on a small bush caught my eye (and the strong Northwester!):

Unknown plant with small red flowers

I didn't have much success focusing on the tiny flowers with trumpet looking anthers (?), and we have no idea what it is!

Flower detail of unknown plant

This pink Metalasia looked familiar to me but not Pippa; the reason being that I spotted one while working at Karweyderskraal in the week before my report of 20th July. That one looked like Metalasia erubescens, the foliage on this one is more sparse, perhaps it's an M. fastigiata?

Metalasia fastigiata ?

The 'ordinary' Brunias are looking spectacular! This one had been cut back by flower-sellers.

Brunia in full bloom

Now we know this is also a Brunia, it's not surprising that it's in full flower too! False Cedar Brunia microphylla:

False Cedar Brunia microphylla

Flower detail:

False Cedar Brunia microphylla flowers

We walked back past this strange plant we've seen growing from corms in the middle of the track. It doesn't seem to have changed much.

Unknown plant

Close by was another, growing straight out of the ground:

Another similar unknown plant

Is this another, a metre or so away and more advanced?

Is this the same, more advanced?

That's my finger in the corner of the picture, the plants are tiny!

:-) A